Fran Halsall wins 100m freestyle final at 2011 British Gas Swimming Championships
Fran Halsall, last year’s European and Commonwealth gold medallist, won the women’s 100m freestyle at the 2011 British Gas Swimming Championship in the Manchester Aquatics Centre yesterday. Her victory in the event has led to her selection into Britain’s
Swimming Team for the 2011 Shanghai World Championships in June.
Halsall was swimming with the same spirit that allowed her to pocket gold medals at the last year’s European Championships and Commonwealth Games. Her performance was amazing, as she showed the top swimmers her dominance in the pool.
Halsall’s team member Amy Smith was leading the race from the beginning, but Halsall managed to pass her over in the last metres of the race. She finished the race in an astonishing time of 55.01 ahead of her rival Smith, who touched the wall in 55.04. Halsall,
with the help of her experience and hard work ensured her place in Britain’s team for China, as Amy will have to win at the Amateur Swimming Association National Championships in June to qualify for the Shanghai.
Halsall, who made her first appearance in the championship after her knee surgery in last December, has been a runner up in the butterfly events after Ellen Gandy. Her victory in the 100m freestyle made her quite happy, as she claimed to gain her confidence
once again after the victory. She is determined to work hard for June and is hoping to win a gold medal at the World Championship.
The 20-year-old Halsall was worried during her knee surgery that she might not be able to participate in this championship as a result of her complicated procedure.
She expressed after her victory that in the butterfly events she was not really happy with her performance and every time after her event she felt that she could have done better in the swim.
About her 100m freestyle she said, "Before we started I had in my head I was going to win. You've got to think like that to win, haven't you? I didn't really think about it much. I just got on with it and did my job and had to dig in at the end.”
She also said that Amy’s sprint also contributed to her wonderful timing in the 100m freestyle. She humoured that maybe her touch was registered first on the touching block due to her long arms or big nails.
Along with Halsall, James Goddard and Michael Jamieson dominated their men’s 200m back-stroke and the 200m breast-stroke respectively. Goddard finished 4.63 ahead of Xavier Mohammad, who came second in 1:57.08.
Jamieson won the 200m breast-stroke in a time of 2:10.42 ahead of Andrew Willis, who successfully qualified for the 2011 Shanghai Championship.
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